Fluid collection device

US20170036205A1Pending Publication Date: 2017-02-09SEC OF STATE FOR HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE
4 Cites 10 Cited by

Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
US · United States
Current Assignee / Owner
Publication Date
2017-02-09

Smart Images

  • Figure 1
    Figure 1
  • Figure 2
    Figure 2
  • Figure 3
    Figure 3
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

A fluid collection device comprising an elongate container having an opening at one end, and a swab that is insertable into the container through said opening, wherein: the swab comprises an absorbent collector, for acquiring a fluid sample in use; and the internal cross-sectional area of the container becomes smaller in a direction away from the opening, the internal cross-sectional area becoming sufficiently small so as to cause the absorbent collector to be radially compressed as the swab is inserted into the container in use, thereby causing the absorbent collector to release at least some of the fluid sample held therein. The swab may further comprise a shaft, the absorbent collector being at or near a distal end of the shaft, and a closure being at or near a proximal end of the shaft, the closure being adapted to engage with the container and to close the opening of the container with the absorbent collector inside the container. The closure may further comprise an outlet through which fluid within the container can be dispensed in use, subsequent to the closure having been engaged with the container.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a fluid collection device, suitable for use in collecting fluids for subsequent analysis or testing. It is particularly applicable, but by no means limited, to the collection of bodily fluids such as oral fluids (e.g. saliva or mucosal excretions), blood or urine.BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

[0002] Typical devices for collecting bodily fluids or such like consist of an absorbent (e.g. sponge) collector head mounted at the end of a shaft. Together, the collector head and the shaft may be referred to as a swab. In use, a user holds the end of the shaft distal from the collector head, e.g. between thumb and forefinger, and manipulates the absorbent collector head to gather a sample of the fluid that is to be analysed or tested (e.g. for DNA analysis, or to test for the presence of certain substances within the fluid, etc.).

[0003] Once the sample has been obtained, the swab is typically inserted into a centrifuge tube, the tube is...

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0051]The present embodiments represent the best ways known to the applicants of putting the invention into practice. However, they are not the only ways in which this can be achieved.

[0052]In the description which follows (and in the discussion of the drawings above), embodiments of fluid collection devices are described primarily in relation to the collection of bodily fluids, and oral fluids in particular. However, the invention is not limited to such applications, and it should be appreciated that embodiments may be produced for the collection of fluids in many other areas of industry or research (such as, but in no way limited to, the fields of biotechnology, biochemistry, chemistry, food science, beverages, lubricants, petrochemicals, agrochemicals, marine science, forensic science and investigation, etc.).

Overview

[0053]By way of an initial overview, as illustrated in FIG. 1(i)-(ii), a fluid collection device according to an embodiment of the invention comprises a swab part 10...